Philippine stocks rally on central bank moves to aid EU

MANILA, Philippines—Local stocks rebounded sharply on Thursday amid a global euphoria over the coordinated liquidity-pumping actions taken by key central banks in an attempt to aid the eurozone.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index jumped by 79.55 points, or 1.9 percent, to finish at 4,290.59.

All counters were up but the holding firm, property and services gained the most, respectively rising by 2.3 percent, 2.16 percent and 2.42 percent.

Value turnover was heavy at P12.5 billion. There were 97 advancers that trumped 46 decliners while 55 stocks were unchanged.

Investors loaded up on shares of SMC, ICTSI, PLDT, Metrobank, Lepanto A, AGI, BPI, Megaworld, EDC, ALI, FPH, BDO, SMIC, FIrst Gen, Ayala Corp., Aboitiz Power and MPI.

On the other hand, URC and Lepanto B traded lower.

Overnight, the closely watched Dow Jones Industrial Index rallied by 490.05 points or 4.24 percent to finish at 12,045.68, chalking up its heftiest gain in more than two years. This developed as the Federal Reserve, along with five other central banks from the developed world, moved to aid banks in the eurozone by releasing additional liquidity. This was welcomed by global markets as the actions reminded them of the coordinated intervention taken at the height of the US financial crisis in 2008-2009.